


Hero and Herald Meet

by danceswithhamsters01



Series: Reddit Prompts [10]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Dialogue-Only, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 09:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16365761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithhamsters01/pseuds/danceswithhamsters01
Summary: Based on a prompt from r/dragonageThe Hero of Ferelden and the Herald of Andraste meet at a memorial dedicated to the Champion of Kirkwall. They decide to chat.





	Hero and Herald Meet

_**Prompt 4:** Dialogue Only: Your Warden, Hawke AND Inquisitor finally meet, after hearing various stories about the other._

_ Unfortunately, the Champion, Ava Hawke, is dead in this world-state.  _

 

“Hmm. Odd place for a memorial. But I guess Viscount Tethras would know better than I what she would’ve wanted. They could’ve at least gotten her nose right on the sodding statue. She may have been a Hawke, but her nose wasn’t.”

 

“You... you’re here. You’re the H...”

 

“Please don’t say that silly title out loud, I don’t use it anymore, or the other one. ‘Lady Arainai,’ if you feel like being formal. Just ‘Sevarra’ works, too.”

 

“My… contacts… said that you and your husband weren’t the sort to venture very far from home these days. I hadn’t expected an answer, let alone for anyone to meet me here, least of all you. I mean, I’d hoped, but--”

 

“You may drop the act, Lady Rutherford. I know you mean Leliana and her pets. She is nothing if not persistent. It’s not every day you get one of the Divine’s personal assistants showing up on your doorstep, telling you to go to a tavern in Kirkwall, of all places. That, and Varric sent me a note mentioning the memorial. I wanted to see it for myself. After all this city put her through, after she-- well… NOW they want to honor her. Typical. I guess dead heroes are more palatable.”

 

“Let’s get a table for a bit of privacy, yes? I’d rather not draw extra attention, seeing as we both seem decidedly retired from public life.”

 

“Hah! That’s one way to put it, I guess. Lead on. So, what does the former Inquisitor, the sealer of the Breach, the conqueror of Corypheus, the Herald of Andraste herself, want with little ol’ me?”

 

“Answers, but mostly just to talk. We’d tried to find you, back when things were… well, considerably more hectic. Where’d you go? Why weren’t you with your order?”

 

“I went… away. Mostly in the hope of not dying. Weisshaupt and I did not see eye to eye on certain matters. Things got ugly, they got violent and they decided my head would look most tastefully arranged on a pike. As for why I wasn’t with them, well, trying to protect a Commander from attacks or abduction would’ve distracted too much from their duties of keeping the darkspawn at bay and keeping the Arling safe. One person versus thousands in need of protecting. Easy choice to make.”

 

“But you were friends with your King, surely he could have intervened.”

 

“Ferelden wasn’t exactly at its strongest at that point. We’d just survived a Blight, remember? Alistair was up to his neck in dealing with reconstruction efforts, not to mention the tiring little political games the nobility loved to play whenever they thought they could get away with something to line their pockets by less than legitimate means. And what Commander worth her salt runs crying to the king or queen with every little problem? Certainly not one worth the rank.”

 

“We could’ve used you, you know. An experienced leader, a known hero, someone people would willingly follow. A mage who wasn’t on either si--” 

 

“Finish that sentence and I promise you will regret it. Had I known what Anders had intended, what he’d been trying to accomplish… Well, I would’ve tried to help him find a less… deadly way to get his point across, but I would’ve given him my support. Besides, you seemed to have managed to kept the world in a distinctly not-destroyed state of being.”

 

“Well, failure wasn’t exactly an option. I wasn’t keen on living a world where a trip to the market could also involve running from demons.” 

 

“Heh. Humor, from a noble. Intriguing. No wonder Ava came to see you when she did.”

 

“You knew the Champion? Personally?”

 

“We were cousins. Only, we didn’t discover that until we were grown and had done our respective things to gain notoriety. Not that either of us set out to be well-known for anything. We’d only wanted to protect. In her case, a family and a city. In mine, a kingdom. I guess it worked, after a fashion. We corresponded for a time and visited when we could, until Varric felt it needful to hide her from Cassandra.”

 

“Cassandra was less than pleased about that. I had to stop her from killing him, quite literally.”

 

“Why am I not surprised? I’ve never met a Seeker myself, but if they’re the sort that make Templars wet their smallclothes, I’d not want to draw their attention, either.”

 

“You could’ve helped us with the Grey Wardens, made things easier. They would’ve listened to the woman who killed the Archdemon and lived, one of their own.”

 

“Bahahaha-- Oh, you were serious? No, I very much doubt I would’ve been of any help, if that false Calling business were true--”

 

“Oh, it was very true. I have no reason to believe that Ser Stroud would’ve lied about it. He said it was in his mind from the moment he woke to the moment he went to sleep.”

 

“That being the case, I would’ve been more of a liability than I already was.” 

 

“Beg your pardon? What do you mean?”

 

“The mages. The Grey Warden mages. At Adamant. Many of them were former pupils of mine. I wasn’t allowed to recruit anyone from the Circles, seeing as I myself filled the “one mage from the Circle per branch of the order” quota, even if I was the Commander. I got… creative. I stole a few apostates from Templars here, offered safe harbor to a few other apostates there, offered them lessons on how to properly control their magic. Soon enough, Ferelden’s chapter had the most mages in its roster in the Order outside of Tevinter. First Warden got wind of it, demanded that I spread the wealth. And so, a great deal of my mages were transferred. A large number wound up in Orlais.”

 

“….where they became enslaved by Corypheus and his minions. We had to cut them down, there was no way to break the hold over them. I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be. Their blood is on my hands, and that of the people they killed. I’m the one that put them in harm’s way. If I hadn’t listened to that sodding pompous First and allowed the transfers, if I hadn’t allowed them to take the Joining… things could’ve been different. They and their victims could still be living rather than...”

 

“There’s no way you could’ve known what would happen to them. Stroud said that Corypheus’ very existence was a closely guarded secret.”

 

“Hmph. I grow weary of secrets. The longer they’re kept, the more pain is caused when they inevitably come to light. A supposed darkspawn magister, kept in a cage. That would’ve been nice to know about, you know? I’m a strange sort, I like to make contingency plans. I’ve found ‘throwing it into a box, locking the box and chucking the key down the privvy’ to be a rather poor approach to things.”

 

“Quite. Hawke was the only reason we got out of the Fade. She didn’t give us time to discuss or vote on the matter. She quite literally shoved us at the portal.”

 

“Ahh. That does sound like Ava. Hated standing around talking when there was fighting to be done. Sodding demons. Where is Stroud now?”

 

“He… he went to Weisshaupt, to inform them of what happened. No one has heard from him since.”

 

“Maker’s own luck to the poor bastard. Weisshaupt is not eager to entertain listening to anything they do not wish to hear. They get downright… inhospitable if you don’t go along with their wishes. Speaking from experience on that.”

 

“I’m guessing that inspired your “retirement” from the Order?”

 

“Ah, it would seem Leliana is as nosy as ever. You could say that, yes. I never made a formal statement. You help stop a Blight, you kill an archdemon, you rebuild an order after centuries of exile. One would think that would merit a little bit of thanks, or at least not being kidnapped and tortured by your supposed comrades. I’m so terribly picky, I know.”

 

“You weren’t exactly difficult to find after things calmed down. Fiona all but crowed about it once you took up her offer.”

 

“Hmph. Did she, now? There will be words had. I agreed to teach students, not be some trophy. Speaking of retirements, aside from the obvious, what made you call it a day?”

 

“Heh. The arm’s pretty good for everyday things, but fighting’s right out of the question, at least the way I’m used to doing battle. Dealing with nobility that turned and bit me so soon after helping them got very old. If I wanted that on a daily basis, I would’ve just tried to reconcile with my family.”

 

“You’re not on good terms with your kin?”

 

“Hah! Hardly. My parents disliked me for not consenting to either of their matches for me, then denounced me as a heretic after the Conclave and its aftermath. My sisters and many cousins needed none-too-gentle reminders to not use my name as a way to bully others. They all disowned me for marrying Cullen. My blood may be Trevelyan, but the Rutherfords actually treat me like family.”

 

“Well, their loss. If the rest of the clan are like Cullen, they’re undoubtedly decent and kind folk.”

 

“You knew him, from before?”

 

“I should hope so. He was stationed in the Circle I was from. We were quite sweet on each other. Which, of course, was against the rules, what with him being a Templar and my being a mage. I think the knight-commander had suspicions, probably why he was picked as the one to strike the killing blow at my Harrowing if things went wrong.”

 

“Killing blow? Harrowing? Wh--”

 

“Ah, I forgive me. I’m too used to being around others who know the dirty secrets. In Circles, the Harrowing is the final test in a mage’s apprenticeship. You enter the Fade while in a trance and have to do battle with a demon to prove yourself resistant to possession. If you fail your battle, the templar watching over you has to kill you. Take too long and they’ll also kill you. A rather sick thing to ask of a young man just for having the gall to fancy someone, no?”

  
“That’s horrifying! Who in their right mind would think that’s a remotely acceptable thing to do?”

 

“People bent on making it as difficult as possible for mages to reach adulthood, if you want my opinion. The old Chantry, most likely. Vilifying magic seemed to be their hobby.”

 

“Not to pry, but I was wondering if you could tell me what happened, during the Blight, I mean. To him. He hasn’t been eager to speak of it.”

 

“I’m not sure if I should. By all rights, that’s his story to tell, not mine. Regrettably, I didn’t get there until after… what had been done to him happened. Trauma does things to people, none of it very nice. He watched many people die, that’s all I’ll say of it.”

 

“Ah! There you are, boss! Curly said you were out and about. And it looks like you got my note, Snowball.”

 

“Hello, Varric. Long time, no see.”

 

“Wait, he calls you Snowball? What’s the story behind that?”

 

“Ever seen a grown man jump up and scream like a little girl, boss? She tormented the more unruly people under her command with snow down the back of their shirt or pants, whichever she could reach.”

 

“It worked, didn’t it?”

 

“What do you think of Chuckles’ memorial? She loved this place.”

 

“It’s alright. They got her nose wrong, though.”


End file.
